President Barack Obama urged students to stay in school, study hard
and ask lots of questions, prompting a short discussion at Fairmont Jr.
High School in Boise where students were impressed with Obama's
personal story and that of Michael Jordan and J.K. Rowling.

"I never would have guessed that about him," said Jacob
Dahl-Buffington, 12. "That his family didn't go to college."

Obama's address to the nation's school children was met with
objections from conservative talk radio hosts, prompting schools in
several states, including Idaho, to not air it. Kacey Schneidt,
principal at Siena Elementary School in Meridian banned the president's
speech on advice of about 15 calls to the school.

"Only one teacher really wanted to do it," Schneidt said, citing the
short time frame to prepare a lesson on the speech. She said parents
can watch the speech with the children at home.

Mountain View High School in Meridian also declined to show the
speech, but principal Aaron Maybon said it would be shown in the
auditorium twice for any students who wanted to watch.

Maybon said no teachers had shown an interest in showing the speech,
but two Meridian teachers said they were never asked.

Amy Kohlmeier, principal at Fairmont in Boise said the opposition to
the speech and the fact that several schools chose not to show it was
both troubling and disturbing.

"This is a great opportunity to have the president of the United
States talk about the things that we talk about every day at this
school," Kohlmeier said.

Four Fairmont parents opted out. One Washington Elementary School
parent was concerned about an opt out form that the school sent home
for parents not wanting their kids to see the speech, particularly
since the only other opt out she's ever gotten was for HIV/AIDS
prevention education.

"I don't get an opt out if I don't want my child to pledge
allegiance to the flag," said Boise parent Julie Gill. "They don't
bother to let me know if the governor speaks to our kids, if the mayor
speaks to the kids ... why the leader of our country?"

In a discussion of the speech in Paul Altorfer's seventh grade
college prep class at Fairmont, one student pointed out that since
presidents don't really write their own speeches, any president could
have delivered a similar message.

Some college-age tutors who help in the class also raised a few
objections to the president's delivery.

On Obama's admonition that failing in school was failing the nation,
Ally Perry, 20, said that was not necessarily a positive message for
young students.

"That's a lot of pressure that they would be failing their country,"
she said.

And Anthony D'Amato, 20, added that Obama's definition of
success—famous athlete, author, doctor or lawyer—is not the
only route to success.